There are actually several residents who saved their homes (in areas annihilated by fires) by simply spraying water on their yards and houses with garden hoses. This proves that the fires could have been controlled and many, if not most homes saved if there was a competent fire department, and the fire hydrants had enough water. But the fire department basically did nothing and many fire hydrants had no water.
There are reports/videos of arsonists being spotted and arrested around the time the fires started and were blazing.
Of course, many people are now speculating and finding evidence that this goes beyond "incompetence" and "negligence", and that this may have been done on purpose and allowed to happen, citing numerous factors -- including reservoirs that served the fire hydrants not having water, cuts in the fire department funding in the months/years before these L.A. fires, evidence that the fire department "stood down". People are talking about plans to make L.A. a "15 minute city", and comparing this fire to the suspicious fire that destroyed the town of Lahaina in Maui in 2023.